"Alright. We're going to be traveling alone for a bit. You all can go out and hunt monsters with Rato." Khana reiterated the plan with her party.

"Hm." Trusi hummed with a neutral expression.

"I feel like your teamwork hasn't been as good lately." Khana continued.

"Uh huh." Garth nodded, a smirk on his face.

"And it'll be good to help Mauler and Rato level up some." Khana finished.

"Right." Omir had his arms crossed.

I was pretty sure we all knew what was happening. Khana was stalling. It was plainly obvious, since she kept her eyes on Mauler while she spoke. Sure, the sooner we left and reached Zeltoble, the sooner she'd be back permanently with the bear, but that involved leaving in the first place.

"With just little man and me on Hailey, we'll be finished quickly." Khana added, wrapping her arm over my shoulder. That got Khana's party to change their looks somewhat. If I didn't know any better, they might have thought Khana was trying to get me alone for a little fun.

Well, we'd be killing every monster in our path, so there would be some fun, but not the kind they may or may not have been thinking of.

Really, Khana was just being dramatic. We've been ready to go for almost 20 minutes now. But no, she wanted to go around a few places and double check her party's supplies. She even tried to get me to go to the church again. We'd already swung by after our meeting with Nelshen—before I had my own meeting with her.

Speaking of, I had the night to think about what she said. Nelshen didn't say all the usable assets she had for taking care of the senator. She must have agents of some kind, even if they weren't magic ninjas. Most likely, she had the means to have him killed already, but that ran the risk of leading back to her. Not that I blamed her for any of that. One shouldn't reveal everything you had, especially to someone who could be your enemy. I didn't have any plans to cross her, but we both knew that had the potential to change.

Anyway, her stalling was pointless. We were still going to be coming back here at night, so she'd see her red teddy bear then. Though, I did get some spell books for the ride. With Khana on board and Hailey being more intelligent than that other filolial, it was safer to try and read them. I was by no means an expert on Siltvelt's and Shieldfreeden's language, but Rato had been teaching me when she could. She was pretty talented, and I was a fast learner. Rato can help more at night when we return.

"Now, that doesn't mean I want you all to sit back and relax." Khana went on. "With the Waves going on, it's important that we keep pushing forward and—"

"Miss Khana." Martin spoke up.

"Yeah?" Khana paused to look down at him.

"Mauler will be here when you return tonight." He said, cutting right to the heart of the issue.

Khana said nothing in response. That call-out was all that was needed.

"Right…" Instead, she removed her arm from around me and approached the bear sitting on the ground. She knelt in front of him and held his fuzzy head in her hands. "Well then, I'll be gone for the day. Be good and listen to Martin."

"I really think he should listen to Omir…" Martin murmured. Omir was the second-in-command, after all. But Martin was closest to Khana, so that made sense, too.

"Aaah." Mauler let out a quiet whine, nuzzling into Khana's hand. The two of them shared a few more moments together before Khana stood back up.

Now it was time for us to go. I pulled myself on top of Hailey and waited for Khana to come over. She took one step. Then another. It was slow and painful, and the moment she stopped moving, I knew what was going to happen.

"Mauler!" Khana turned back and ran toward the bear.

"Aaaaaaah!" Mauler likewise roared and ran on all fours to meet Khana halfway. When they neared one another, Mauler leapt up and clung to her, receiving a hug in return. A 'bear hug', as it were, like something out of a cartoon.

Once more, I had to entertain myself with ridiculous jokes that no one else could hear.

"Gweh!" Hailey turned her neck to look at me, almost accusingly. In return, I just scratched her neck a bunch. Maybe she read my mind, knowing I was half-heartedly making fun of Khana. More likely, she was jealous another animal buddy was getting attention. I didn't spend as long sleeping in the stables with her as I implied I would.

Eventually, the heartfelt moment came to an end. Khana begrudgingly came over—for real this time—and climbed up behind me.

"All set?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Let's go before I change my mind." Khana said, still looking at Mauler. He was slumped over and getting his head patted by Martin.

Not wanting to have this put off any longer, I steered Hailey in the right direction and got her going. It took a few minutes to reach the gate to the city, and then we were off.

"So, what should we do to pass the time?" Khana asked.

"I'll be working on these spell books, hopefully." I said. When I went to the magic shop, the mage told me my attributes were fire and support. That sounded about right.

"But what about me?" Khana fake-whined. "I have to spend all this time in silence, away from my little boy? After I go out of my way to help you?"

"You need to register to Zeltoble as well." I reminded her. "Plus, me getting to Melromarc will help you out."

"Hmph. No respect for your elders." Khana complained.

I was going to retort, but then I had an idea. "You ever watch Star Wars?" I asked.

This was something I was curious about, but hadn't bothered to ask yet. Were we from the same world? I mean, I really doubted it, since there could be an infinite number of Earths out there. Well, not really, since my goddess said it was actually finite, but my point remained. There could be similarities between them.

"Star Wars?" She repeated. "You mean Space Voyage?"

"That might be Star Trek." I replied.

"No idea about that." She poked the back of my head. "I've been here for 23 years, little man."

"Eh, worth a shot." It wasn't like someone was seriously going to remember something from that long ago.

"By the way, I was Japanese before, if that matters." She added on.

"Ah. American."

Yeah, there was no chance we were going to have a lot in common. Really, what were the odds I'd find a reincarnated who not only wasn't antagonistic toward me, but was from the same world and both knew and remembered all these things?

And so, the quiet journey was underway.

~The Right Man~

The time I spent learning magic wasn't as fruitful as I'd hoped. I just couldn't make much sense of the book. It didn't look that difficult at first glance, but the words almost shifted around on the pages. I worked on it for about an hour before I gave up.

Instead, I worked on my practical application of magic. That being, I shot off a Faust Fire Shot at whatever monsters there were. The Staff's power up method didn't increase my MP cost, so that was nice. I'd also be gradually improving the spell's other stats—power, MP cost, speed, etc.—with every use thanks to the Claw Method. Some of my skills were already benefiting from that. And there was plenty of opportunity for that.

As per the plan, we fought just about every monster we came across. What wasn't mentioned, however, was that we weren't taking the roads. The shortest distance between two points was a straight line, which currently had us in a forest. Just going by distance, this should only take us about seven days to reach Zeltoble. The uneven terrain and frequent monsters would bring us back closer to 10.

This was a bonus. More levels meant an easier time once I reached Melromarc, where I was sure trouble would find me. Our parties were out gaining XP themselves right now, but I was pretty sure we were gaining more. There was the obvious reason of them being closer to the capital, thus weaker, less territorial monsters nearby. That just made sense. But also…

"Faust Fire Shot VI!" The walking tree burned easily from my spell.

"Save some for me, little man!" Khana complained from behind.

"We're not here for fun." I responded. Hailey trotted over to the burning tree, allowing me to absorb it.

Torrent Axe (abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Plant Appraisal 2

That complemented my Mush Axe I unlocked early on with plant appraisal 1. It would help out when I eventually got the bioplant.

"Come on, a little fun wouldn't hurt." Khana insisted.

"If we can get my level up high enough, I won't need you to play taxi driver for me." I didn't think I'd get to level 50 before Shieldfreeden's Wave, though.

After then was when Khana and I would actually part ways. After that, there wouldn't be any more Waves until after I reached Melromarc. Technically, if I took too long, Faubrey would have another Wave, so I either needed to get to level 50 before then, or at least find Naofumi if I wanted to participate. I really hoped that wouldn't be an issue.

Well, I'd be registered to Melromarc's hourglass, so that wouldn't be a huge problem. I'd just have to work harder and faster at gaining his trust. Plus, Conrad might be at Faubrey's next Wave. I'd have to plan out how I wanted to handle that. The Projectile Hero might be too much for me, if his level was high enough.

Well, people gave a lot more XP than monsters, so…

"What's a taxi?" Khana asked.

"It's a…" I had to think of how to say it. "A car for short-term transportation. How do you not know that?"

"Twenty-three years." She reminded me.

"Ah, right."

We continued on for many hours more, stopping occasionally to eat some rations and let Hailey rest for a bit. When the sun began to set, we decided that was enough for today and teleported back.

The results? Ahead of schedule on travel. I reached level 38 with Hailey at 37. She was able to stomp to death more than a few monsters.

I knew this wasn't going to last. Once I hit level 40, my growth would slow down even more. We were just lucky we hit a few heavy areas of monsters. In fact, we ended the day in such an area.

"Why didn't you mention that place had strong monsters?" I asked as we walked toward the inn.

"I haven't visited every forest, scoured every plain, and trekked over every mountain, little man." Khana replied.

"Fair enough."

Even being here so long, I couldn't expect Khana to know everything. I got to cheat a bit with the books, but that couldn't compare to personal experience.

That said, none of the monsters we encountered today were all that comparable to the ones near the last town. I got to level 36 from that, and was well on my way to 37.

As we approached, a roar of happiness and relief was heard all around. Joy was clear in the air, the setting sun casting this part of the city in warm light. It was a time of celebration and reunification like no one had ever seen.

What actually happened: Mauler was sitting outside the inn. He saw Khana, roared happily, and started running toward her. Khana did the same, even returning the roar—as weird as it was—and met him halfway. Just like this morning, he leapt into her waiting arms.

It was not that big of a deal.

"Gweh?" That said, it's not like it wasn't heartwarming. Seeing Khana cuddle her little bear got me scratching Hailey's neck.

"Oh, I missed you so much!" Khana let out what might be considered a squeal as she spun Mauler around.

The red ursa might not be able to speak, but I could tell the feeling was returned.

While Khana was reuniting with her long-lost cub—because that's exactly how it looked—I got Hailey situated in the stable. Food was bought for her, plus a few monsters from my drops. She'd eaten plenty today, but more was always better for these birds. Once we got to Zeltoble, I'd make her a proper meal myself.

Our parties were already inside, having started on their relaxation for the day. It was a different inn than the one we stayed in before. This one was larger and had a bit of a 'party room'—just a more secluded area for a larger group to eat and drink in relative peace. That was in addition to the large tavern that took up the first floor.

I was pointed in the direction of our parties, and when I opened the door…

"Dante! Mauler is too shiny!"

I was met with a confusing statement by a drunk Martin.

"Care to explain?" I asked as the young man held onto my armored arm, his ale of choice in his other hand.

"Khana is a filolial, and Mauler is shiny!" Martin elaborated, nearly falling over.

"Right…" I nodded and guided him back to the table. "Anyone care to translate?"

"Khana's been paying too much attention to Mauler." Trusi provided the needed information. "I mean, it's not like she's been neglectful to any of us."

"Especially not Martin." Garth added with a grin. "Not since she found him a man."

"Clearly." I deadpanned.

The table had long benches on both sides, with a chair on each end. The other three members of Khana's party took up one side, Rato being alone on the other. As I sat next to her, Martin sat down next to me, drink sloshing.

"A shiny, red bear is more important than me!" Martin bemoaned, leaning against me. "Do you think a shiny, red bear is more important than me, Dante?"

"No, Martin, a shiny, red bear isn't more important than you." I assured him.

He looked up at me, his eyes half-lidded from the alcohol. Then, in true drunken fashion, he rested his head against my arm. "I'm more important than a bear. You can't fuck a bear. Would you fuck a bear, Dante?"

So, this was my life now.

~The Right Man~

Khana, thankfully, came in not too long after I did. She was able to rescue me from reassuring Martin about…whatever questions he decided to ask. I was also thankful the questions didn't get any stranger.

On the other hand…

"I still can't believe Hailey sat on you like you were an egg!" Khana laughed, her own drink in hand with Mauler on the floor next to her.

That was how I was found this morning, after I returned from my meeting with Nelshen. Yes, I did spend the night in the stables, like I said I would. It was a little chilly, and Hailey was right there. So, of course, the filolial decided to keep me warm in the most instinctual way possible.

But that was beside the point. Now, instead of one drunk person interacting with me, I had two. Well, one and a half. I was able to maneuver Martin to sit on Khana's lap, provided I was next to them.

Maybe having sex with them multiple times wasn't the best idea I had.

"You've said that three times over the course of eight mugs. I think you've had enough." I needed to be the voice of reason, since Khana's other party members seemed content to let this play out.

"Bah! This is nothing!" She retorted, downing the rest of her ninth mug.

"You've seen how much she drank the night we met." Garth pointed out, and being on only his second mug.

I didn't bother to point out how her drink her was stronger. "I remember how that night ended." I said, pointing to Rato.

Garth shrugged. "It worked out."

That it did. Rather cleanly, too. And, hey, now Rato's stats would grow that much more.

"You better not take advantage of her, little man." Khana pointed at me—or she tried to. She was off by a few inches.

"I'm pretty sure we already covered this." I replied. It was, in fact, mentioned on multiple occasions what our relationship would be.

"Dante is already working toward one of his promises." Rato chimed in. "Two, in fact."

Getting to Melromarc would get me access to a Holy Hero, which would get Rato a royal filolial. Whether or not Hailey could transform would be interesting to see, but Naofumi could always raise one from an egg if she couldn't. And, of course, gaining levels got me closer to killing the Projectile Hero for Rato.

"Good!" Khana slapped my back with a bit more force than necessary. "I'd hate to have to kill you for forcing yourself on that hottie."

I couldn't hold back my smirk. Sure, someone insinuating I'd do that to a woman would normally at least annoy me, but Khana was special. It helped Rato slyly covered her mouth, pretending to be deep in thought with a few fingers curled under her chin. She was very pointedly looking away from Khana.

"Not interested in women?" I decided to divert the subject of the conversation.

Rato rapidly flapped her wrist in a shooing motion, continuing to look away from me as well.

"Well, I'm always available." Khana waggled her eyebrows, though the recipient didn't notice. "But, yeah, that's good to know, little man. Every rapist should be castrated or killed."

"You won't hear me arguing." I nodded.

Just then, I noticed something. Omir, Garth, and Trusi were all giving Khana glances. I didn't know what that was about. Had she done that before? She seemed a bit too law-abiding for that. It wasn't like all three of them could be guilty of that. There was simply no way Khana would have let them into her party, and no way she wouldn't find out. She was strangely observant about things.

"You ever kill one of them for a job?" She then asked, looking into her empty mug before grabbing a full one.

"A few. Probably. Definitely a pedophile." The child-lover was a freebie. The others, well, might have been guilty. Some people hired me for a job, gave me more information than I needed, and I took care of them. If they were guilty, then great. If not, they were added to the list of innocent people I've killed—unless they did something else.

"Good. That's good, little man. Good work…" Khana started to mumble. "Wish you died sooner…"

I raised my eyebrow at that particular statement.

"Oh, shit." Omir let out. He reached over to grab Khana's mug, but the drunken woman pulled it back. "Khana, I think you've had enough to drink now."

"I'm still drinking." She grumbled to the cat man.

"Khana, I'm serious." Omir said, hands on the table.

"Yeah, maybe you should listen to him." Trusi added in.

"You're going to have a massive hangover tomorrow." Garth finished.

This was a noticeable deviation from how they acted not even a minute ago about her drinking.

"Why shouldn't I keep drinking?" Khana ignored them and gulped down much of her mug. "I'm celebrating! Someone like little man here is great to have around!"

"I'm…honored?" This conversation was starting to go in a weird direction.

"No, really, little man! It's great you're here." She leaned over and gripped my shoulder. "But, man, I wish you died earlier. Maybe I wouldn't be a hero then."

"I'm…sorry?" I really had no idea what she was on about.

Omir, Trusi, and Garth all looked like they'd rather be somewhere else. I was in the same boat. Martin had fallen asleep in Khana's lap. Rato recovered from Khana's potential pass at her and was looking our way, though I didn't think she'd be much help here.

"Eh, don't worry about it." Khana gave me a few pats before looking me in the eye again. "It's not your fault. It's that bastard's."

"Ah." I was starting to see where she was going.

"Remember how I said Martin was a childhood friend?" I nodded, but she didn't wait before continuing. "I didn't meet him until after I was 12 years old, 2 years after I ran away from home."

I got the feeling she was about to share something she normally wouldn't while sober. "You know, we should probably call it a night—"

"My parents were evil bastards." Khana just kept going. "The most vile, terrible people in the world. They never should have been parents. But they were, and Pahadron threw me right to them."

This was something I really shouldn't be hearing. I didn't want to belittle what I assumed happened to her—based on everything she said leading up to this—but Mauler was looking to be a good distraction. Unfortunately, the bear was asleep next to Khana's seat now.

"You want to know what my dad did?" She asked, her face barely holding back a snarl.

I didn't know what it was. Maybe it was to show her I was listening. Maybe I just didn't want her to say it herself. Whatever the reason, I said it. "He violated you."

Khana stared at me. In an almost unnatural way, her lips curled into a toothy grin. It was very much unlike every other grin she gave me. "Yeah. He did. And guess what mom did."

For that, I had no response. What could she have done? The way Khana said it, it didn't sound like 'nothing' was the answer. It was something worse.

"She said it was my fault." Khana's grip on my shoulder tightened. "She beat me for it. Oh sure, dad did too. It was all my fault he did that to me. He just couldn't keep his hands off his own daughter, his own flesh and blood!"

"That's…" I tried to find the words to say. They weren't coming easy.

"And you want to know the worst part?" Khana went on. "It happened twice."

"Ah. Well…I'm glad…you were able to…find help? Before they did that to you more." I was in no way at all qualified to speak on any of this. Her being drunk made this more difficult.

Khana clicked her tongue, turning to the side. "No, that old bastard did it plenty. But it happened the first time, too."

She wasn't making sense. "The first time? What do you…oh…" The sudden realization hit me like a brick.

Pahadron was an evil god. If anyone tried to tell me otherwise, they were dead. Khana's second life wasn't making a child suffer through one of the worst things in the world. It was making her life repeat itself.

If I ever found a reincarnated that willingly served him, I'd tear them apart. Maybe I'd wait until the Wave with Glass. I'd get a weapon capable of destroying souls then. A perfect way to deal with them.

"Anyway," Khana let me go and waved her hand, as if dismissing the topic, "I ran away and ended up in a village far from home. The priest that ran the orphanage took me in. I got my start as an adventurer, killing balloons and carrying gear for different parties. Ended up staying in the village Martin lived in and he became my best friend!"

The man in question was still asleep, having somehow slept through Khana's entire breakdown.

"He's really held me together all these years. I'd do anything to make him happy." She spoke fondly, holding him close. A frown grew on her face. "I just…never realized how far I'd go."

Her expression turned grim as she faced me again.

"I got to thinking about what I did to you, little man." She began. "Yeah, it helped you, but it was still shitty of me. I knew you were in a bad place and I took advantage of that."

Was she…is that why she just shared this horrible part of her past with me? "Khana, that was in no way the same thing!" I couldn't help but shout.

"Wasn't it?" Khana asked, not expecting an answer. "I knew you wouldn't say no, knew you weren't sound enough to think about it."

"A night of drunken sex is completely different from—"

"And I used that to bring Martin in." She added.

"That…" Yeah, I knew that was bad. "You were right about me not being mad about that."

"So? I still did that when you were weak and needing comfort. I'm no better than any of those bastards."

"Khana, you know it wasn't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be." I argued.

"Oh yeah?" She fixed me with a hard glare, though her drunkenness put it a little off center.

"Yeah. If it was, I wouldn't have spent a second night with you two." I reminded her.

"I manipulated you into doing something you wouldn't have done normally." This drunken woman was still somehow coherent enough to make an argument, even if it was a shitty one.

I wasn't a psychologist or anything resembling that. Maybe one of them could point to some string of actions to conclude I was still being manipulated. Even a cursory look at my past alone would keep the rest from making such a ridiculous conclusion.

I killed people for money, and had lots of sex. Those were my two biggest vices, one being an occupation. Who would think I'd have that much of an issue with what she did, when I was still aware enough to make the first move.

That's what Khana didn't seem to get, though I doubted I'd be able to persuade her, since her memory and listening seemed pretty subjective right now. She offered herself, and I accepted. She had me kiss her first to get started. Khana had many strong points and talents, but manipulation wasn't among them.

"Khana, this is pointless." I sighed. "Let's just clear the air right now. Yes, that was a shitty thing to do. I forgive you. And you know what? When you and Martin sober up, I'd be willing to go at it with you again."

The unspoken part was that Martin would be included in that. As he was solely on the receiving end from me, I didn't have much issue being with him, so long as Khana was there.

She slammed her fist on the table, knocking over a few mugs. "That's not good enough! I'm not going to be as terrible as them! Now, hit me!"

"I'm not going to hit you because you think you manipulated me into—"

"You don't know what all I'm doing, little man! Hit me!"

"Khana, I'm not—"

"Hit me!"

"Khana—"

"Hit me, you fucking coward!"

Then I hit her. One solid punch, right in the face.

She wobbled back and forth for a few seconds, expression dazed. Just as she was about to fall back, I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her forward. That caused her to slam her face into the table, and then she was out.

I didn't hit her because she called me a coward. She was drunk; I didn't take seriously the words of someone who was drunk. But she was clearly trying to instigate a fight. The only thing I could do was finish it quickly, which I did.

I let out another sigh. Looking over, I saw the rest of her party, the ones who were conscious. This…was not the first time she went off like this. I didn't know what the circumstances were, and doubted it was something like what she was confessing to this time, but I was sure it was in part due to her past.

"Anything you guys usually do when she gets like this?" I decided to ask.

Trusi let out a breath as she stood. "Take her to bed, and prepare some medicine for her hangover."

"I'll help." I offered.

Garth came over and pulled Martin away from Khana, only for the shorter man to latch onto him now. Omir picked up Mauler, who stayed asleep for the whole thing. Trusi and I got under Khana's shoulders and carried her off.

"How often does she do this?" I asked as we followed behind the others.

"Once every couple of months." She replied. "We're a little early."

"This another thing you all are trying to get her to stop doing?"

Trusi shook her head slightly, making sure Khana was held up. "There's nothing to do. She won't talk about with us when she's sober, and none of us want to push it. We've tried for years to watch for any signs she'll do this again, but it's almost random. She didn't do this the past few nights, which is when we were trying to keep watch."

"Really?" We just reached the stairs.

"Well, yeah." Trusi said. "You were drunk and Khana and Martin slept with you. It wasn't hard to figure out. Really, after you slept with them a second time, none of us thought she'd have any doubts about it, but we still kept watch. Looks like we should have kept that up another day and stepped in."

Khana really had some demons. I did too, but nothing as bad as that. I also wasn't normal. Not a psychopath, maybe a little bit of a sociopath. If I was normal, maybe I would be a full-on sociopath. But not Khana. Despite what happened to her, she was more concerned about her skewed view of what she did to me.

"At least Khana won't remember this." Trusi led us to the room. "She almost never does."

That was certainly a bandage, not a cure. If she ever brings it up again, maybe I can do something. Courtesy from one hero to another. Plus, I did have a murder to plan, and I knew how she felt about that.

Author's Notes:

Yeah…this got darker than I thought it would. Don't get me wrong, this was part of Khana's past in The Wrong Hero. I was originally going to bring it up in this story as something Khana would mention while they traveled on Hailey. But then, this happened.

This did help me figure out how plan out the next few chapters a little. A bit more personal/social conflict, since there soon won't be as much to challenge Dante in a fight.